A patient is typically prepared for surgery involving the head in the following manner. The patient is positioned on the operating table and a Mayo neuro-surgical table is positioned over the patient, leaving his head and neck uncovered. The head is shaved (either partially or completely) and scrubbed with, e.g. hexachlorophene solution. A clean towel is placed under the head and the line of incision is marked on the scalp. Some surgeons prefer at this point to apply a single layer of gauze over the patients's head. This serves to confine any loose hair which might find its way into the operative field when the patient's scalp has only been partially shaved. Four or more towels are placed around the operative site and are secured with towel clamps or sutures. A sterile conductive sheet is placed over the neurosurgical table so that one edge reaches up to the line of incision. This sheet is secured to the nearest towel with Michel clips. A craniotomy sheet, with its fenestration placed over the operative site, is placed over the entire field and secured with Michel clips. Half sheets are used for additional draping, and sufficient slack is left in the various drapes to permit operating table adjustments. The desired surgical instruments and auxiliary equipment, e.g., sponges, basins, and irrigating solutions, are placed on the overhead or neurosurgical table. A typical craniotomy sheet is fenestrated near its center and has a slit running from the edge of the fenestration to an outer edge of the drape. The slit forms what might be considered two wings of fabric; after the craniotomy sheet is positioned on the patient, these wings may be adjusted and secured together over a bucket (commonly called a "kick pail") so that irrigating fluids and blood drip into the kick pail rather than on the floor.
Information (including that given above) respecting the preparation and draping of a patient for surgery involving the head may be found in the following references: Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery, 5th Edition, C.V. Mosby Company, St. Louis, Missouri (1972); Aseptic Treatment of Wounds, The Macmillan Company, New York, New York (1954); and Operating Room Technique, 2nd Edition, The C. V. Mosby Company (1949).
Inasmuch as the above described draping procedure involves a large number of drapes and the use of securing means such as towel clamps, sutures, or knots made in, or with, fabric, a substantial amount of valuable operating room time is spent in draping and otherwise preparing the patient for surgery. In addition, the use of the wing-like portions of the fenestrated, slit craniotomy sheet to direct liquids into the kick pail does not insure that all such liquid will reach that container. The presence of the kick pail at or near the feet of the surgeon and his assistants is inconvenient and the pail is subject to being inadvertently knocked over.